With Arms Wide Open
by Stratagem
Summary: As life is getting underway in TC, Alec is confronted by his breeding partners prior to Max. While learning how to be a dad and to take command in TC, he starts falling for the one woman who isn't having his kid...and someone else isn't happy about that.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel; I don't own the characters, the places, the world, anything. It all belongs to James Cameron and Fox, and I don't claim any of it! However, I think I might stake claim on my OFCs and OMCs, some of who you'll meet in this chapter.

A/N: It's baaa-acck. And so is my muse! It's partly due to Tron: Legacy being totally awesome, and FirstBorn for being even more awesome and discussing this story with me. Thank you, thank you, thank you, FirstBorn! ^_^ The first few chapters are already written, which is cool because I don't have to freak out so much, but I'm working on the next one. Hopefully there will be *gasp* weekly updates! Oh, and Doppelganger is going to be finished soon, too. HUZZAH FOR A MUSE!

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**With Arms Wide Open**

Chapter 1

Alec revved the engine of his bright green Duke streetbike and sped away from the makeshift apartment building where he was currently living. There was never a quiet moment in Terminal City, not since Max had basically declared it a barricaded, transgenic-guarded fortress against the rest of Seattle last week. Even before that, it had been a rough-and-rowdy place where a fist fight could break out just because you looked at someone wrong.

Three days ago they had run up their new flag, stood behind it with pride and brotherly love and then partied all night to celebrate the birth of the mutant nation. It had been a _good_ night; Alec had the cell phone numbers to prove it. The next morning they had to take the flag down again and redo it because, you know, it likes to rain in Seattle, and Joshua hadn't thought to paint the flag with waterproof colors. Joshua had been crushed, but a couple of other transgenics had offered to help him sew a new one. Still, no one was really happy about that particular possible foreshadowing of their future.

Besides the flag fiasco, lots of tiny details had to be worked out around the place now that they were officially "organizing." Alec happened to hate all this organizing, mainly because it had him sitting in on a lot of boring meetings where they talked about how they should set up a government and which part of the trash heap they lived in should get cleaned up first and how to show the Ordinaries that they were a happy, peaceful people who weren't going to steal their women and kill them in the night.

Alec preferred action over talking, so he made sure to volunteer to go on whatever supply runs needed to be made, but somehow, for reasons he couldn't understand, he was still getting sucked into the newborn bureaucracy of Terminal City. Must have been his outstanding charisma and leadership abilities. Yeah…because he made sure to display those every day.

He had been in the middle of trying to get some kind of TV reception in his apartment when Max had called to tell him to get his butt down to HQ. She had sounded pissed, which really wasn't unusual these days. If Max was angry, it could have been triggered by anything from a busted sewer drain over on Oak Street to a fight breaking out between a couple of X6s. Max was holding up relatively well under the pressure, but he could see the stress lines that might start cracking if she took on too much. Hopefully she'd wise up and learn to delegate before she went too far down the road of losing it.

He drove up into the parking deck that was the entrance to Headquarters and parked his motorcycle alongside the others. Max had set the trend with her Ninja, and the others, especially the X-series, had adopted the tradition of acquiring streetbikes, motorcycles and dirtbikes, really whatever two-wheeled they found "abandoned." Besides mopeds. Mopeds were laughed at around here.

Most of the vehicles currently in their garage to be fixed were bikes, but yesterday, Nails and Heather, a couple of enterprising X-series, had gone out and brought back a couple jeeps, courtesy of the Sector Nine impound lot. Jeeps were much more conspicuous compared to bikes, but you could actually load things into jeeps. With a constantly growing population that needed to be fed and clothed, those jeeps were going to come in handy.

"Hey, Alec!" exclaimed a slender, pretty X6 who was standing near the door as he walked up. With curly black hair and startlingly blue eyes, she was cute, but too young for him. Besides, the X6 guy she had been talking too, Zeke, was now glowering at him like he was going to burn Alec's skin off with his eyes.

"Hey, Iris," he said, grabbing the door as she opened it for him, "Did you figure out what was wrong with your shotgun?"

Iris nodded. "Jammed," she replied, "Should've known. Got Mole to fix it for me."

"Very brave," Alec said, shooting her a smile before sauntering inside. They didn't keep guards here at HQ; there was really no need when everyone in the city was a soldier. They did have patrols that ran the fence lines though, making sure none of the Familiars snuck in to massacre everyone. That would have been a mess.

HQ was the heart of TC. Everyone came here to get orders or to just laze around, looking for some kind of inevitable drama to break out while they dealt with their boredom. For a bunch of out-of-work soldiers, the Manticore Alum had some serious love for soap opera inspired moments. Alec preferred to watch the drama and make betting pools on the winners instead of being a participant.

Alec realized as he made his way through the place that everyone was watching him. No, they weren't blatantly staring at him, but they were still watching him, peeking over railings, glancing out from around other people, looking out of the corner of their eyes. Great, what did he do this time? Okay, seriously, did someone rat him out about that flatscreen he had stolen on the last raid? Couldn't he have one thing that wasn't broken for himself? Max had a freakin' water heater in her apartment, he could have a TV! He deserved that TV, and if Max tried to tell him how he should donate it to the common good, she could just go ahead and forget it. HQ could find some other flatscreen.

Ignoring the stares and keeping his nonchalant appearance, Alec walked through the major hub of TC and towards the back rooms that were quieter and used for actual work. At least three of them were taken up by Dix's surveillance equipment and personnel, another one had been commandeered by Joshua for the sake of art, a third was the Board Room, which Alec thought was actually a fitting pun, and another was used by Max as her personal office. The office was tiny, mainly because Max didn't want it to seem like she was taking up any more room than she needed, but it was still her territory. Enter at your own peril.

Mole was standing in the hallway outside of Joshua's studio, chewing on a cigar, arms crossed. He was wearing his usual outfit; Alec put it on his mental list to find the lizard-man some new ratty jackets and army cast-offs to wear.

Mole smirked when Alec walked past him. "You really outdid yourself this time, Princess."

"Look, I don't want to hear it about the TV," Alec said, rolling his eyes, "If it's that big of a deal, I'll just lift another one tonight. How's that?"

Mole let out a low, gravelly huff of a laugh. "Wouldn't be worried about watching too much TV anymore if I was you."

"Oh, what, Max is going to kill me?"

Mole just shook his head and snickered. "Nah. She's probably going to be too busy enjoying this as much as I am."

Alec glanced at the transhuman, wondering if he had been into someone's secret stash. There were some dealers in TC, but he hadn't thought any of the transgenics were on anything. "Okay…"

"Here," Mole said. He thrust a fresh cigar at Alec, almost hitting him in the face with it. "Congrats."

Alec looked from the cigar to Mole and then back to the cigar, incredulous. Mole never gave out his cigars. Ever. To anyone. It just didn't happen. Tentatively and forcing a smirk, he reached out and took it, bracing himself for Mole to try to break his hand off at the wrist. "Thanks."

"You're gonna need it," Mole said. He turned and disappeared into Joshua's studio, laughing. Mole's laugh was a hoarse, weird noise somewhere before a maniacal chuckle and a snicker. It creeped Alec out on a good day. Now he was wondering if he should be intelligent and make an escape since doom seemed imminent. Curiosity won out in the end though, and Alec completed the journey to Max's office.

He forwent knocking, like usual, and let himself in. He automatically groaned. Something told him this was not about the TV.

The tiny office that didn't really have much elbow room anyways was now filled to capacity. The room's usual occupant, Max, was sitting on the edge of her desk, a small bundle of green cloth in her arms. It looked like she had been cooing to what he decided was either a small animal or a baby, but when he stepped in, she stopped and looked up at him with a scowl that would have floored a lesser man.

There were three other women in the room besides Terminal City's impromptu tyrant. Two he recognized, but the third was a stranger.

The tall, stunning brunette with the Native American looks who was standing stoically by the window had been his first breeding partner. She was dressed in army-issue cargo pants and a tan t-shirt, and it didn't really surprise Alec. After a week of having the most awkward, passionless…intercourse…possible (she had treated it like a training exercise where she was pretending to be a plank of oak) with X5-182, Alec had been relieved when they let him off the hook and didn't take him back to her room. He had thought that thanks to the completely lackluster mission (totally all her fault) that the baby-making objective had been a failure…but there was one of those baby slings around her shoulder and a bulge in the sling that looked baby-shaped. But no way, that could be anyone's kid. He had had other partners, so she probably had had them too. That wasn't necessarily his kid.

Talking about other partners… The other woman he recognized was a small, sweet-looking younger female with wavy, light blond hair and green-blue eyes. X5-530. Completing the mission with her had almost been worse than dealing with X5-182 because 530 had been into it, way too into it. His second breeding partner, she had been a virgin when Alec had first been brought to her, but she sure hadn't acted like it.

Wearing a dark grey hoodie with 'SEATTLE' stamped across it, 530 was sitting in the chair behind Max's desk, her arms resting on top of a stomach that looked like she had swallowed a normal-sized basketball and then managed to inflate it some more. He gritted his teeth in a smile. They had been breeding partners almost nine months ago… Oh—no.

X5-391, his third breeding partner and the only normal one, was missing, and in her place was someone he vaguely recognized as another TC X5. She had a pair of beautiful chocolate eyes set in a pale, cream face that was framed with thick, dark brown curls that bobbed over her shoulders. She was slender and wearing a red sweater with dark blue jeans that fit her nicely. The only thing upsetting about the picture was that she, like Max, was holding a bundle, though hers was pale yellow and slightly smaller than the one Max was cradling. A tiny hand with little chubby fingers was grasping the edge of the blanket.

Alec turned his attention back towards Max, whose glare hadn't slackened off at all. "Um, I'm guessing that's not yours?" He managed to pull off a smile, but no one smiled back at him.

"No, you jerk," Max said, her tone as scathing as her gaze, "He's yours. All of them are yours."

Alec looked at Max then to the three women. Wonderful. He shut the door behind him, but didn't manage to keep his big mouth shut. "I hope they don't all want to go to college."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel; I don't own the characters, the places, the world, anything. It all belongs to James Cameron and Fox, and I don't claim any of it! However, I think I might stake claim on my OFCs and OMCs, especially my OFCs. ^_~

**A/N: **Thank you, Chronicles of an Insomniac, for reviewing the last chapter! And thank you, everyone, for reading along and alerting or favoriting the story. I appreciate it!

**With Arms Wide Open**

Chapter 2

Feeling cornered, Alec stayed with his back to the door the entire time while Max took the point position in the inevitable attack, not even letting him get a word in edgewise to smooth the situation.

Alec had four kids with these women, or he would have four kids when 530, now called Jaimie, popped in a couple weeks. The whole idea of having four kids was a really hard concept for him to grasp because, besides the principle of the matter, he had had sex with three of four breeding partners, and one of those wasn't even here. Two present breeding partners that he had completed the mission with should've meant two kids, not four. Instead, he had four. Four. 391 had been replaced by the brunette who Max had mentioned was named Liv. Liv was the one who had had twins (a boy and a girl) through some experimental in-vitro fertilization process that he hadn't been aware of back at Manticore. Alec had been skeptical of that at first until he caught the scents of the babies that Max and Liv were holding. Half him and half Liv; it was impossible to fake a smell like that.

The events that had led up to this happy reunion in Max's office were explained to him by Max with as much anger and annoyance as possible. While she talked, Jaimie looked amused, Liv looked slightly concerned and 182, who had renamed herself Cheyenne, kept a neutral expression. Max's speech was punctuated by the occasional gurgle, cry or whine from the three infants, seemingly just so Alec wouldn't forget their presence. Three kids at once and another on the way… Alec wanted to see them, but he was nervous, so he kept his post by the door.

As it turned out, Liv had been in Terminal City for a couple weeks now but had kept mostly to Oak Street instead of coming near HQ. It had been easier for her to handle the babies without the crowd or something like that. Anyway, when she had come to the party to celebrate the transgenics' new nationhood with everyone else, she had figured out who Alec was and, too nervous to go straight to Alec since he wouldn't recognize her, she had gone to Max.

Max, Alec quickly decided, had been impossibly jealous because she hadn't had sex with him and gotten knocked up with his awesome child, so she went out and made it her mission to find all the lucky women who were pregnant with his kids or had already had them. That's how Cheyenne and Jaimie had wound up here, staring at him and probably thinking he was the lowest person in Terminal City for putting them in this situation.

"This is your responsibility, Alec," Max exclaimed as a moral lesson to finish off the lecture portion of the meeting, "You're going to have to deal with the consequences."

Alec rested his head on the back of the door and shot a glare at Max. Of course she would assume that he was going to slack off on this. "For one, it takes two people with orders from superiors to make a transgenic baby. It's not like I went around taking advantage of Manticore women just to get them pregnant." Max wasn't amused, but then again, neither was he at the moment. "Second, I didn't say I was going to ignore anything or anyone."

"And I didn't say you were," Max replied, "But raising kids doesn't exactly strike me as an Alec thing to do."

"Glad you don't have high expectations for me."

"Excuse me," Liv said quietly, interrupting Max before could respond to Alec's retort. She gave Max a small, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Max, but maybe it would be better if we talked to Alec on different terms. This is all really very sudden, and it has to be overwhelming, if not confusing."

"He does look scared," Jaimie said, a smirk on her face. She pushed a few locks of bright blond hair out of her face. "He's got that, what's it called, the deer in headlights look?"

Alec rolled his eyes at her but was sort of grateful that they were giving him a bit of relief instead of going for the kill or as Jaimie might say, hitting him with the car. Max would probably drive a Humvee right over him if she could, judging by the look on her face.

"We can go back to my place and talk there," Liv suggested, "It's not too bad, and it won't seem so much like an interrogation." She smiled over at Alec.

"I know my opinion doesn't matter, but I like that idea too," Alec put in.

"I like the idea of getting out of here, and I'm the fat pregnant girl, so my opinion does matter," Jaimie exclaimed imperiously. She hauled herself out Max's chair and looked over at Cheyenne, who hadn't said anything the entire time they had been there. "You going, Pocahontas?"

"I have things that need to be done, but I think 494 needs to know who his son is," Cheyenne replied stiffly.

"It's Alec," he said, not really liking how she referred to him by his designation. "Alec McDowell."

"My apologies, Alec McDowell." She didn't mean that. She walked over to him and pulled off the baby sling from around her shoulder at the same time. She held up the sling as if she was passing him an AK-47. "Reece will have the supplies needed to care for William."

"Wait, who's Reece?" Alec asked, but suddenly the baby was in his arms.

Until this moment, Alec had been able to distance himself from the situation. There were three babies and a pregnant woman in the room, and he acknowledged that the kids were most likely his, but now, holding this one, the information was sinking in. He had three kids and another on the way. Suddenly his carefree bachelor life had turned into 24/7 mission in fatherhood, something he hadn't expected to experience, well, ever, or at least many years down the road. Not now.

He looked down at the bundle in his arms. The baby…William…had a paler complexion than his mother and chubby cheeks, sort of like a hamster. There was something about his nose that reminded Alec of looking into a mirror. His eyes were closed since he was sleeping, and he was making little burbling noises. He was thick, all curves and roundness, and he felt solid in Alec's arm, like he would bounce if dropped. Not that Alec would ever drop him. No, it's just, he felt that way…Alec held the baby closer, suddenly aware that he was over six feet tall and that was a long way to the floor. He glanced at William again. He had done well; the kid was cute. Alec couldn't help but let some kind of smile onto his face. This was his son. His son. Will.

A ferocious emotion welled up inside of him as he looked down at the defenseless baby in his arms. It was the need to protect him, to make him safe, to not let anything happen to him if he could possibly help it, no matter the lengths he would have to go to. This baby and the other two and the one that would be born soon, these were his kids whether he wanted them or not and something in him knew that and was going to protect them. Alec's consciousness wasn't ready for this, but at least his subconscious instincts seemed to be prepared.

Stunned, Alec glanced at Cheyenne. "How old is he?"

"Six weeks, four days," she replied as if answering a drill sergeant. "I have business to attend to. I will come to Reece's apartment when I finish. If you have left," now her eyes narrowed disapprovingly, "I expect to find William with Reece." She turned towards Max and looked like she wanted to snap a salute. Instead, she restrained herself and marched out the door, leaving Alec more confused than ever, Max shaking her head, Liv looking at the floor and Jaimie snickering.

"Don't mind her," Jaimie said as she walked/waddled out from behind the desk, "She's not doing well with adjusting to the outside."

Alec nodded. "All right, but no one's told me who this Reece person is..." He switched Will to his other arm and smirked a little as the chubby baby made some kind of goatish noise.

Liv smiled, a pretty expression on her rather sweet face. "Reece is my roommate," she said before turning toward Alec, "Cheyenne just means that you should leave William with me."

"I think she means that he should leave Will with Reece," Jaimie said. She was grinning, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant expression. More like she was baring her teeth at Liv in an expression most would mistake as a grin.

Liv only smiled back at her and shrugged. "Either way, it'll be fine. My apartment isn't far from here, and we can get to know each other."

"I don't think I'll go in for the whole tea and cookies thing," Jaimie said, one hand on her massive stomach. Alec wondered exactly when she was planning on having that baby because it didn't look like her small-ish frame could handle it for much longer. "I'm actually craving a burrito. With marshmallows." She glanced over at Max. "What do you say, Fearless Leader, feel like sneaking out to Happy Pedro's with me?"

Max looked up from the baby she was holding and rolled her eyes at Jaimie. "Only because you're so polite about it."

"Live a little, Fearless," Jaimie said with a twinkling smile, and Alec wondered if her skills were something along the same lines as his, extreme charisma and persuasion. It'd make sense to Manticore to have two people like that have a kid.

"You're going outside T.C.?" Alec asked, suddenly feeling a little protective of Jaimie and the unborn child she was carrying. He glanced down at Will again and then back up at Jaimie.

Max rolled her eyes at him. "No, we're not that stupid."

"I am," Jaimie said truthfully. She put her hands on top of her stomach and smirked at him. "Little Alec Junior likes a good Happy Pedro's Steaming Hot Burrito Boi, and who am I to deny him his desires?"

Alec made a face, but Max held up a hand before he could say anything.

"I'll go get the burritos for Jaimie. You go bond or whatever," she said, motioning him towards the door with her free hand.

"As long as I get a burrito. A big one," Jaimie said, crossing her arms over her ample baby bump, "Fat people need to eat. A lot. I'm eating for two, and Little Alec Junior starves easily."

"I'll get you something." Max started maneuvering toward one of the baby carriers that was sitting near the wall. "Liv, which one is his?"

"The one with the green markers," Liv said. She gave Alec a bashful smile. "I color-coded everything so nothing gets mixed up."

"That'll make things easier," Alec said, grateful for the way she thought. "Which color is whose?"

"Oh, the green is Quinn's," Liv said as Max sat the baby boy down in the carrier. He was looking around with wide blue eyes, as if he couldn't get enough of the world. He was older than Will, Alec could tell that just by looking at him and comparing sizes. Of course, Will wasn't far behind, and might even make up for it someday. "And the yellow is Katherine's." Liv turned and pulled the blanket away from the baby who was nestled against her chest. Whining started up immediately, but Alec was able to memorize the delicate little face with the button nose and wisps of light brown hair. A baby girl. Oh boy.

Max lifted Quinn and Katherine's baby carriers and set them on the desk. While Liv put Katherine in her carrier, Max pinned Alec down with a glare that translated roughly into English said: 'Do something wrong, and your death will go down in the record books as the most horrific event in the history of humanity, not just transgenics.' Alec didn't know what that was about.

"You ready?" Liv asked, smiling up at him. She really was something nice to look at.

"I guess," Alec said, and he looked over at Jaimie. "You sure you're not up for family bonding time?"

Jaimie shook her head and made that grin that didn't quite reach her eyes again as she glanced at Liv. "No, I'll catch up with you later, Alec. You can join me at Lamaze." She was teasing, but Alec couldn't help but think that there may be some truth behind that. As far as he knew, she was alone here and had no one to help her with this. Maybe he should be there for her...

Shifting Will's bulk to one arm, Alec hurried over and jotted down his number on a piece of paper from Max's desk. When he finished, he handed the paper to Jaimie. "Here. In case you need a late night burrito."

With one skeptical eyebrow raised, Jaimie looked from the paper to his face. "And anytime burritos?"

"Sure," Alec said, "And anything else. I have my cell all the time, and it's always on." He smiled as Jaimie just stared at him. "Trust me, I'm still freakin' weirded out by all this, but as I see it, you've got it worse than me, and, uh, I should be there." Alec felt weird just saying that, but it was true. He wasn't going to ditch Jaimie or the baby or Liv or any of the others any time soon, as far as he was concerned. In less than an hour, Alec had acquired a seriously messed-up family and more responsibility than he could handle. He'd need time to get used to it, but…he was going to make it work. Or at least try to.

Jaimie slowly put the paper in her pocket. "Thanks…"

"No problem," Alec said, giving her a smile, "Just not too many 3 a.m. runs. The O.C. reruns come on then, and I'd hate to miss them." He jostled Will a little and got another goat-grunt out of him.

Jaimie shook her head, cracking a half-smile. "Uh-huh, wouldn't want to keep you from your soap opera."

Liv grabbed both the baby carriers with the ease only a transgenic mother could have. "I'm ready."

Alec nodded and got the best gentle grip he could get on Will. He would've put the sling on and offered to help carry Quinn or Katherine (that was going to get shortened to Kate or Kat or something), but wearing the baby pouch would've meant the complete destruction of his already severely damaged reputation. Better to just carry Will in his arms. Steeling himself for the stares and snickers of everyone in HQ, Alec plastered a nonchalant look on his face and nodded at Liv. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel; I don't own the characters, the places, the world, anything. It all belongs to James Cameron and Fox, and I don't claim any of it! However, I think I might stake claim on my OFCs and OMCs, especially my OFCs. ^_~

**A/N: **Thank you, Lirra and Chronicles of an Insomniac, for reviewing Chapter 2! :)

**With Arms Wide Open**

Chapter 3

Amazingly, no one ridiculed Alec as he made his way through T.C. with Will in his arms and Liv walking behind him with both of the other babies. Actually, most of the transgenics seemed to be very absorbed in whatever they were supposed to be doing, a rare occurrence in Terminal City. Maybe someone had put out the word that they weren't supposed to give him a hard time. At least for twenty-four hours, just so all of this could sink in. There was a lot to sink in.

He held Will against his shoulder as he pushed open the door to HQ and held it open for Liv. As she passed through, he got a good look at both Quinn and Kate, his own instant nickname for Katherine. That name was longer than her and old-fashioned, as far as he knew. No, she'd be Kate. Or maybe Katie.

Both of the twins were bigger than Will and looked more, er, developed, so they had to be older. Judging on what he'd picked up on the reproduction cycle from necessary bio classes and being on the outside, that meant that Liv had gotten pregnant sometime around the beginning of the summer; sometime after Max and her band of merry siblings had duck-taped some heavy duty explosives to the DNA bank and blown the whole operation to bits.

Technically, he could say it was Max's fault that he had three kids and another on the way at the tender age of 21-ish. Manticore alums were never certain of their birthdays. At least these little buggers would get to know theirs. Maybe he wouldn't be bitter towards Max. Maybe.

Alec still didn't want to put Will into the sling, mainly because it was ridiculous and it'd only look worse with the kid in it, so he held the baby. Luckily, with all his endurance training and conditioning, he could do that. The chubby baby was still asleep, zoned out and drooling on Alec's shoulder; it seemed like even lots of movement wouldn't wake up this kid. Must have gotten heavy duty sleeping skills. Not from him though. Yeah…

"So, uh…" That was all he managed. Smooth one, Alec.

Liv looked back at him, all pretty smiles and dimples. Manticore hadn't mangled any chromosomes when designing her facial features. Or her body, at least what he could see of it. Liv was flawless. "It's okay. I'd be a little speechless too if I found out I had twins."

"And two others," Alec pointed out, the number clear in his head. Four. Four kids.

Whoa.

Liv gave a little chuckle that was just as sweet as her face. "That, too." She swayed her arms a bit, rocking Kate and Quinn gently. "Don't be too worried though. We're not asking you to provide for all of us, of course."

"What?" Alec hadn't really thought about that, but if he was good at anything, it was providing. He was the best barterer, thief, buyer and seller out of everyone in TC. Without him, the whole place would probably fall to pieces. "I'll do my part as long as I know what you need."

A small smile crossed Liv's face, and she shook her head. "We don't want to impose…"

He wondered if 53—Jaimie and Cheyenne knew that Liv had become their spokesperson. "You're not." Yes, they were, but it wasn't really their fault. Not really.

Silence hung between them again as they walked through the streets of TC toward the apartment building. It would've been faster to take a motorbike or a car, but bikes and multiple baby carriers didn't mix, there were no available cars, and Liv said that the apartment building she was living in was close by. He'd have to go back and get his bike later, but that wasn't a problem.

He had bigger issues to deal with right now.

The silence was awkward. Really awkward, and Alec didn't do awkward. It just didn't happen to him. He shifted William on his shoulder, wondering if the kid had some form of narcolepsy. "So, why'd you name them Quinn and Kate?"

"Kate?" she asked, one well-sculpted eyebrow lifting in amusement.

He shrugged. "I like it."

"It's cute," she said with a smile. She moved around the few pieces of debris in the street deftly, avoiding stepping on trash. "I found them in a baby name book, actually. I just thought they fit them." She arched both eyebrows now. "Why? Don't you like them?"

"No, I mean, yeah, they're great," Alec said, wondering where all his charismatic people skills had gone. Back in Manticore, his interpersonal communication scores had been off the charts; now they seemed non-existent.

Luckily, Liv seemed to have most of her communication capabilities intact. "I know this is all very strange for you right now, it is for all of us, but I hope that it'll all work out for the best."

"I just have to get used to it, Liv." He scuffed his foot along the gritty, broken sidewalk. "It's sort of sudden for me." He gave a half-cocked grin. "I guess I should be grateful I got the easy part, right?"

A small smile dashed across Liv's face. "Yeah, the nine months were a little difficult."

Aw, crap, now he was supposed to feel bad that he hadn't been there. That's what a normal guy would feel…except he hadn't even been an active part of the conception of the twins. Artificial insemination and all that took him out of the equation, in a way.

"I had some help, though, so I wasn't alone," Liv said, as if she could read his mind. Maybe it had been pretty clear on his face. "My roommate was there."

"Reece, right?" Alec asked, remembering the name that Cheyenne and Jaimie had been tossing around. He hadn't heard of her, but Terminal City wasn't exactly organized or close-knit, at least not yet. They were all there for protection that came from numbers, but that didn't mean he knew all the individual numbers.

"Yes, that's her," Liv said. She gently rocked Quinn's baby carrier when he started whimpering. "She's like a sister to me."

Finally, something he could talk about. "Was she in your unit or something?" He glanced out of the corner of his eyes at Will for a moment. The kid was still conked out, and drool had made a nice dark patch on Alec's shirt. Score: Will, one, Alec, nothing.

Liv nodded. "It was a small unit, and we were the only two who made it out of the building."

"I'm sorry," Alec said. He had lost old unit members in the explosion as well, and then Biggs and Cece had both been killed when they were on the outside. At least he had gotten to spend time with them before…yeah.

"It's all right. We're surviving," Liv said. She turned off the sidewalk and headed up the steps of a building that wasn't as crumbling and ramshackle as some of the others on this street. Alec recognized the place. It was where most of the pregnant X5s and new mothers were housed; it was one of the better buildings in TC. There was a lot less mold here, and it had actually been built as an apartment building, unlike some of the other buildings that they were converting into living space.

The front hall of the building had been repainted a warm, dark green color, and there were a few old but usable couches sitting around, mostly in brown and cream colors. It looked like someone who actually had some talent for color schemes had been let loose in here.

Liv led him up two flights of stairs. Alec took them very slowly so as to not jostle the narcoleptic/comatose child on his shoulder, just in case he wasn't as good a sleeper as it seemed. She got off on the third floor and went to the left; he memorized the way so he could come back when she needed him.

"This is it," she said, nudging the door open with her hip. The unlocked door opened easily, swinging into the decent-sized apartment. The place seemed to have been decorated by the same person who had decorated the rest of the building. The apartment was colored in neutrals, mostly blues and greens, and it had a relatively calm feel to it overall, which was probably a good thing when you were trying to raise twins. "Come in, it's not much, but it's what we have…"

Liv hurried inside, through the small hallway that opened up into a living room. After closing the door, Alec followed after her, wondering if maybe there was something seriously wrong with the unconscious child dribbling saliva all over his shoulder.

"I thought you were going for a walk," Liv said to someone he couldn't see, sounding somewhat annoyed.

Alec smirked, guessing she wasn't talking to him. He couldn't help his smart-mouthed nature, though. "No, you invited me over. You're stuck with me."

When he reached the living room, he stopped short. The hell…

Lying on the couch was a young woman. She was on the short side height wise since her bare feet didn't come close to reaching the end of the cozy-looking piece of furniture. She was probably about 4'11 or 5'. She had long, loosely curled chestnut hair that was shot through with subtle gold; he knew that hair had a specially engineered silky texture that could slide right through his fingers. Her eyes were closed, but he knew that they were hazel, a bright ring of green encircling a light brown circle with jagged edges. They would be gentle and warm because somehow Manticore hadn't beaten those qualities out of her.

She was wearing dark grey sweatpants, probably because she couldn't fit into jeans anymore. Stretched over her round stomach was a light green long sleeve shirt. A pair of old-fashioned headphones had been forced down so that the padded ear pieces were on opposite sides of her basketball stomach. The headphone cord was attached to an iPod in her hand and another cord ran to a pair of ear buds, also attached to the iPod, that trailed up to hide in her hair. Her toes were bobbing in time with the music, which seemed to be some soft alternative variety with a female singer.

She cracked her eyes open and glanced over at Liv. "I did walk. You just took forever." Sitting up, she pulled the headphones off of her stomach and out of her ears and finally looked to Alec. The familiar eyes widened and then crinkled at the edges with a soft smile.

"You survived the gauntlet. I'm impressed, Alec," said his last and final breeding partner, 391.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel; I don't own the characters, the places, the world, anything. It all belongs to James Cameron and Fox, and I don't claim any of it! However, I think I might stake claim on my OFCs and OMCs, especially my OFCs. ^_~

**A/N: **Thanks for the review and sorry for the late update! Hope you enjoy it! :)

**With Arms Wide Open**

Chapter 4

Alec stared. 391 was Reece? That woman right there was definitely 391, and he doubted that anyone else would have been sprawled out on the couch, looking that comfortable and at home, besides Liv's roommate. And that would make her Reece. It was just, so…impossibly random.

391 had been his real breeding partner while he was on his mission to befriend Max. The handlers had quickly figured out that there wasn't going to be any offspring from that particular arrangement since Max was staunchly against free love, so they set him up with a different girl to ensure progeny. Besides, his mission with Max was more about getting information, not getting her pregnant. That would just be a nice bonus. Every night after he spent an hour with Max either glaring holes through his forehead or ignoring him entirely, he was taken back to his room, and 391 was brought to him like a prize for being a 'good boy.'

The first night they had sent her to him, Alec had been prepared for a board like 182 or a sex-driven maniac like 530. Manticore obviously couldn't let him breed with someone normal, that would be too good for him since he wasn't the perfect soldier anymore. He understood that. He had failed missions, and therefore he got the castoffs of everyone else's procreating missions. He was ready for and resigned to whatever he got; he needed to relieve some tension, anyways, after dealing with 452 the Ice Queen.

They must have known the mood he was in and felt gracious because 391 had come and diffused his annoyance with conversational skills that extended far beyond 452's 'the hell,' 'don't touch me,' and 'get out.' There had been no entering and sizing up for her; she had come in and made herself comfortable on his bed, sitting cross-legged after she took her boots off. Too short, he thought, too short and hair too long; he liked his women ultra-curvy and tall and with short hair so it didn't get in the way, or he thought he did. 391 was quiet, collected and calm while he had been cool and sarcastic, at least until she had offered to just sit and talk for a while before they continued the mission. They had a whole night, she had said with a smirk, and the mission only took a few minutes. They had time to talk.

It started off slowly, just a conversation about the latest weaponry and training techniques before it evolved, changing to a swapping of mission stories and anecdotes about teammates and battle buddies long gone. For as expensive as they were, soldiers didn't last long at Manticore. He didn't tell her everything, not really, and he knew she held things back, too, but he told her more than he intended to as the night wore on. Maybe her skill lay in the spying department, but her touch was reassuring, almost infusing him with confidence.

The actual mission started with her reaching out to him, her fingers light on his wrist as she turned it over and began to trace the patterns of the lines on his palm. It was a weird feeling, her feather-light touch tracing the only skin lines that marked him. There were no scars or fingerprints, just the lines of the palm, like every other X-series past and present, and she traced them gently. He couldn't remember anyone touching him like that before, except maybe…yeah.

It hadn't taken them very long to complete the mission after that. Each time she had been brought to him, they had told each other a little more about themselves, a little more about their lives, about what they wanted that they couldn't get in Manticore, forbidden things like a cup of coffee every morning for him and a string of pearls for her, like the ones she had worn on a mission to France. They talked in the languages they knew, slipping easily from one to the other, testing to see who knew what and where they had been.

He liked the way she talked, quietly but with purpose. He liked her sense of humor and how she could match his smart mouth. He liked how she moved, which was like she talked, understated and graceful. He liked when her hand rested on his chest, how she felt when he pulled her to him, the way she pressed her cheek against his and breathed softly, warmly on his ear. The way she kissed…

"Are you all right?" He realized that 391 had gotten up and was standing in front of him, hazel eyes concerned. She glanced over at Liv and then back at him. "You look like a sheet. Do you want some water?"

"You're not Reece," he said bluntly, still staring at her, staring at the bump of her stomach, refusing to feel or think anything because if he did his brain wouldn't be able to handle it, and he would have meltdown right here in this baby-ful apartment.

She rolled her eyes as she reached up and slipped her hands underneath the weight on his shoulder. Oh, right. Little goat-baby Will. He felt each of her fingers as they pressed against his jacket, moving against the leather. In a moment, the chubby baby was cradled in her arms, seeming to rest on the bump. The stomach bump. He stared at it. Don't think about the bump. Overload. Wasn't he supposed to be able to handle large loads of information thrown at him at once?

"Wow, I think you broke him," 391 said dryly, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at Liv. The other woman was busy setting down baby carriers on the coffee table. Katie was asleep, but Quinn was awake, grey eyes looking around the apartment.

"He was fine until recently," Liv replied in a similar tone. She unstrapped Quinn and set him down on a blanket that was on the floor. "So perhaps the fault belongs to someone else. Perhaps."

"I think I can fix it." 391 stepped toward him, socked feet on the carpet, and he stood like he was being inspected, ramrod-straight, arms by his side but eyes down and focused on her mid-section. Something tapped his nose, and he blinked, pulling back a little. "It's not yours."

"What?" he asked, shaking his head and looking down at her. He had forgotten how short she was, how miniature. He loomed over her.

"This." She pointed the finger she had poked him with at her stomach, one arm still supporting Will. "Is not your problem. This is." Now she pointed at Will, who she had shifted so that he was against her shoulder, somehow still asleep through the switch. He needed to get that kid checked.

"How is that not my problem?" he asked, rolling his shoulders as he allowed himself to start thinking again. It had to be his problem. He was her breeding partner and he wanted— Well, he didn't want it to be his, now did he? No, hell no, he had enough problems right now, but—

Her face scrunched up as if in an effort to not laugh. "Contrary to your specific world-of-one viewpoint, you weren't the only one with a double assignment." She moved past him, and he turned to watch her disappear down the hallway only to appear again in the cut-out that gave a view of the kitchen. Behind him, he could hear Liv moving around, but he was watching 391. "You had other partners, and so did I. Manticore wasn't big on monogamous relationships, it seems." She went to the half-fridge that was sitting on the counter (he made a mental note to get them a bigger fridge) and pulled out a water bottle. In the same motion, she turned and tossed it through the open partition, not losing her grip on Will for a moment. He caught it one-handed.

"But how can you be sure…" He twisted the cap off and chugged half of the bottle as he walked over. When he was finished, he set the bottle down and leaned against the counter. He still liked the way she moved, somehow still maintaining her gracefulness even with The Bump. She couldn't be as far along as Jaimie.

"DNA tests don't normally lie, and the answer I got on the day the place blew up was that this isn't yours," she said nonchalantly, like she was answering a question about the weather. "So that's only four you have to worry about, if my calculations are correct."

"Ah," he said. Today was definitely a day for few words, which was rare for him. Usually he had a comeback for everything. Now his mind was blank, though he was gradually able to form sentences using the few words he allowed in.

"Technically only three at the moment," Liv said. She appeared beside him, Quinn in her arms. The little boy was alternating between chewing on his fist and staring at it like it was utterly fascinating and couldn't quite believe it was attached to his wrist. Alec felt like he could identify with that bewildered feeling right now.

"Oh, yes, can't forget that Jaimie's only incubating," said 391, lips twisting into a smile. She had always smiled easily…or at least he thought she had. She had always smiled easy around him. "So three babies and one bun in the basket that will eventually become a full-fledged poo factory."

"Mixed metaphors don't suit you," Liv said, but 391 didn't raise to whatever bait that might have been.

He ground his elbows against the tiled surface of the counter and watched the petite woman as she put a pot of water on the stove and started heating bottles. She did everything with one hand, the other occupied with Will, who was now starting to wake up if the goat-like noises meant anything. He allowed himself to think of a few more things. "Where'd you get the name Reece?"

"I like the candy," she said with a smirk, "Who doesn't? And I'm just so sweet and tasty, but I didn't like the way it was spelled—"

"Old alias," Liv cut in, "From a mission."

Alec glanced down at the other woman. Although Quinn was in her arms, she had her eyes on 391. Her face was blank, not betraying any emotion, but her body language told him she was pretty tense. Maybe she and 391…Reece…had had a fight before Liv had gone to HQ.

391 turned away from the stove and looked back at him, "So, what would you like for lunch? The babies are having milk, but I'm guessing everyone else would prefer something else." With that one free hand, she rolled a hair band off her wrist and put her hair up in a loose, messy low bun. "But keep it simple, I never had a mission as a chef."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel; I don't own the characters, the places, the world, anything. It all belongs to James Cameron and Fox, and I don't claim any of it! However, I think I might stake claim on my OFCs and OMCs, especially my OFCs. ^_~

**A/N: **Thanks for all the awesome reviews. Sorry for the super late update...life is busy. But this chapter is slightly longer, so HUZZAH! :)

* * *

**With Arms Wide Open**

Chapter 5

While Reece set Will down in a weird bouncy seat thing on the floor in the kitchen so she could cook, Alec let Liv pull him away to show him the babies' room. Before they left, she set Quinn down on a blanket in the middle of the floor; Kate had fallen asleep in her carrier, so she was left there for the moment.

The baby room had been decorated with ducks and rabbits and in shades of yellow and green. There wasn't much in the room, only the basics like a couple mismatched baby beds and a table. No kid of his was going to get by on something second best, not if he could help it. He made a mental note to add more baby stuff to the list of requisition items. Easy enough since he was in charge of it.

His eyes were drawn to the only non-essential piece of furniture in the room, a strange chair with legs that were connected at the bottom with a curve of wood. Narrowing his eyes, he walked over to it. The arms were smooth from being touched often and the cushion in the seat was a worn and thin. There were a few cracked places on the finish, and he spotted a couple rough areas that could use some touch ups. He couldn't remember having seen something like it before.

"Reece brought that thing here," Liv said. She was standing near the doorway, Kate in her arms. Her gaze flicked to the chair before she rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "She likes it, but I wish she'd let me get rid of it. It's so old it's probably pre-Pulse. Or older."

"That so?" Alec touched the arm of the chair, judging its age. It was solid, potentially made of real wood. "I could probably fence it for good money if that was true."

"Take it with you," Liv said, waving her free hand, "Reece will live without it."

Alec rolled his shoulders and sat down in the chair. Smirking, he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. The chair leaned with him. Testing it out, he lifted and lowered his heels, making the chair rock back and forth. It was a gentle, steady motion, relaxing even. It actually had a sort of appeal. And it smelled like Reece. Her scent, a mixture of oranges and something blossomy, was ingrained in this chair. Obviously she used it a lot more than Liv wanted to admit and might miss it a little more than the other woman was letting on. And there wasn't much of Liv's smell anywhere on the chair…

One hand lingered for a moment on the arm of the chair as he got to his feet. He gave it a scrutinizing glance and shrugged. "It's beat up. See the scratches?" He flicked his fingers over a few of them. "I wouldn't get anything for it like that."

"Oh," Liv said, looking genuinely disappointed, "Well, maybe we could fix it up then sell it."

"Yeah, that's a possibility," Alec said. Not a very large one. He wasn't going to sell anything that might cause Reece to suddenly despise him or anything. He had a feeling he might want her on her side, judging by the way Jaimie and Cheyenne seemed to respect her. "So," he started, determined to change the subject, "Which team were you and 39—Reece on?" Manticore-related questions were considered common-ground topics for the transgenics. You could always rely on the "good old times" to get you across any gaps of awkward silence or prevent one from happening.

"Charlie Squad," she replied, her answer almost a sigh, "Didn't she tell you?"

"We stayed away from specifics," he said. He meandered toward one of the baby beds and peeked into it. Green and cream blankets and pillows. Must be Quinn's bed. In his head, he put together what Reece had told him about her team and what he had heard about Charlie Squad. "You were the recon team, right?"

Liv nodded and bounced Kate as the baby made a little noise. "Most of the time, yes. We were supposed to get information for other mission teams, but we were also a combat unit, like everyone else."

A lot of mission plans had been based on info that Charlie Squad had come back with, but Alec had never really interacted with any of them. Well, if you excluded Reece, and he hadn't known what team she was on. "What were you, the medic? Communications?" That was also something Reece had never told him. He wasn't sure what her role on her team was; he only knew that she wasn't the CO. No wonder she had spoken vaguely about some things if she was on C Squad.

Liv smiled a little and then shrugged. "It's not so important now, is it?" She glanced around the room and then looked at him. "Seems like a lifetime ago."

He was about to answer but there was a high-pitched, shuddering cry from the living room, and Alec jerked his head up. That was Quinn. It had to be because Will sounded different. He looked at Liv, wondering what she was going to do, but she was watching him.

"Anybody hungry besides Quinn?" Reece called, "Because lunch is ready!"

"We should probably go," Liv said with a sigh, "Oh, and don't expect a masterpiece of a meal. She wasn't lying when she said she wasn't exactly a cook."

Liv was right. Reece definitely had never been a chef before, judging by the simple grilled cheese sandwich that was deposited on a paper plate in front of him at the little table in the living room. Also available for consumption and equally healthy were the two bags of potato chips on the table, one regular and the other barbeque. Reece motioned to him and then Liv with a red and silver spatula that still had cheese sticking to it.

"I don't want to hear a negative word out of either of you," she said, the corner of her mouth uplifted, "This is a good, hearty meal. No, it's not just that, it's fantastic." She opened one of the bag of chips. "Gormet, even."

Alec smirked a little. "I think that review is seriously flawed."

"Quiet, peanut gallery." Reece rolled her eyes. "Come back some time, bring a cookbook and some skills, and then we'll see."

"Maybe I will," he said, grabbing the sandwich, "Maybe I'll show you how to not fail at cooking."

"Such a gentleman."

"I try."

She left them at the table, snatched a bottle from kitchen bar and walked into the living room. Quinn burbled unhappily on a blanket on the floor, probably considering a full-fledged cry. She picked up the baby and then settled down on the couch, nestling him into the crook of her arm. Quinn started a full-on cry for a few moments, anticipating the bottle that Reece popped into his mouth before he could entice the other two babies to join him. Alec had heard it was like that with kids; when one started whining, they all joined in. At the moment, Will was bouncing slowly in the little chair thing while Kate still napped.

"So, when's Cheyenne going to pick up Will?" Reece asked, tone wry, "Or did she give him to you permanently, Alec?"

Alec managed to not choke on the handful of BBQ chips he had just put into his mouth. He swigged down some soda and shook his head. "No, hell, no, she's coming by later some time. He's with you."

"She's going by the ammunitions shop," Liv said, glancing at Reece, "She wanted to ask Terrence about some parts for that rifle she's working on."

"The semi-automatic? I can't believe she still has it," Reece said, jiggling Quinn into a more comfortable position. Again, Alec's attention was drawn to her Bump. Who, exactly, did that belong to? Why would Manticore give her two different breeding partners at the same time? Not that he really cared all that much. He had enough to worry about with his four. Right.

Reece was just some girl he had hooked up with in Manticore. Nothing more, nothing less. She was a mission partner, basically. If he had imagined anything more than that, he had been losing it. She obviously didn't see it as anything more than that.

When he tuned back fully into the conversation, the two women were talking about something that had happened in their apartment building the previous night.

"—and she told him that if he set foot in that place again, he wouldn't have a foot to set," Liv was saying, a pursed expression on her face. She glanced at Alec and then shrugged. "But it's silly, really, for them to fight like that. And it isn't any good for the baby."

"Not that Adelie will remember any of it," Reece put in. She smiled down at Quinn, who was finishing off the bottle. Alec bit off another hunk of grilled cheese as he let his eyes travel across the familiar quirk of her lips. Reece had a genuine smile, a warm expression that usually hinted at a suppressed laugh.

"Still, it's not right, especially since we're all supposed to be working together now," Liv said. She tugged at one of her brown curls; when she released it, it bounced back into place. "Otherwise, we'll be more susceptible to an attack."

"We're susceptible just by being clustered in one place," Alec put in after swallowing. "And everyone knows where we are now. It's only a matter of time before someone decides we're in a good position to be wiped out all at once."

"A flag is a rallying point and a target," Reece said, but she kept her gaze on the baby, not meeting his eyes as he looked at her again.

Liv picked up a potato chip and broke it in half. "Well, yes, but since we are in one place, at least for now, we should work together, don't you think?" She was looking at him, obviously wanting him to agree. And she was really, really pretty.

"Yeah, sure," he said, smirking, "Makes my life easier."

"Because you deal with domestic problems so often, Mr. Butler," Reece said. For a moment, the reference was lost on him, but his love of old movies finally kicked in. Butler must've meant Rhett Butler, famous blockade runner from _Gone with the Wind_. Similar jobs, similar attitudes. And Rhett Butler was filthy, dirty rich. He could deal with being compared to that guy.

"Hey, I handle my fair share," he said, "And working together _is_ a good way of protecting ourselves, in the long run."

"But if we all went to ground in groups, well-organized smaller groups with a variety of skill sets, we'd have a much better chance of surviving," Reece said, echoing an argument that he had been considering presenting to the others. Sure, that was the simplified version, but it was similar to what he actually thought.

Hiding away in the middle of a hostile city with Familiars breathing down their necks and then broadcasting their whereabouts wasn't exactly a tactical success; it would be better for the X-series to infiltrate the local population and prove their humanity and then fight for the rights of all transgenics after they had other people on their side. It had already worked with the Jam Pony group, but now it would be harder. They had set themselves apart, and that might've screwed them over royally.

"But it's easier to present a united front from a central location," Liv replied. It sounded like this was a discussion that they had gone over multiple times.

"Easier and deadlier," Reece grunted as she pulled her legs up onto the couch.

To avoid the argument getting heated, Alec decided to change the subject. "Speaking of easy," he said, leaning back in his chair and waving a second grilled cheese around, "It's not that easy to avoid me. I get around, so where've you been hiding?"

The two of them looked at each other, and Liv shook her head. "We haven't been hiding," she said, "I haven't been working much."

"And I'm banned from the motor pool," Reece said, narrowing her eyes. She poked at the top of her stomach with the hand that was holding the bottle. "At least until this has manifested into a baby instead of an inconvenience that keeps me from seeing my toes."

Motor pool? Alec hadn't thought of her as a mechanic, but it seemed that was her job now. Motor pool was Mole's domain. Now it made more sense, how he hadn't noticed her until now. Mole was possessive over the motor pool and only people that worked in there were allowed inside; everyone else had to leave their bikes or any other vehicle outside the warehouse where the motor pool was located. So the scaly-faced cigar-muncher knew about Reece. Now Alec had a source of recent information about her, and he knew the big lizard would be forthcoming with details if he worked it the right way. Maybe he even knew who the Bump's father was. Not that that was a big concern; Alec would just like to know where he was, since he wasn't around. But Reece might be a better fit for a different job. That's what he really wanted to know.

Reece stretched and looked over at him and Liv. "Let's watch a movie while the kids are calm. I found one at the canteen today and snatched it." She leaned over and grabbed a slender plastic DVD case from the coffee table in front of her. "It's supposed to be such comedy-action film with zombies. Shaun of the Dead?"

"Oh, come on, Reece—" Liv started, but she quieted quickly when Alec stood up, grabbing a third sandwich and his glass. Sounded interesting to him, and it would fill any awkward, prolonged silences. He would get to know them, but right now, he just wanted to relax for a moment. He walked over and set the sandwich and glass on the coffee table before taking the DVD from Reece.

"Wouldn't have thought you were a zombie girl," he said. But maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. Today was a series of unexpected information dumps.

Reece shrugged. "Who could pass up the living dead and comedy?" She grinned and patted Quinn on the back. "Besides, quiet moments have to be cherished by filling them with noise, obviously."

"Obviously." He put the DVD in and when he turned back to the couch to find Liv sitting in the middle beside Reece, leaving the seat beside her for him. Alec took the empty space and settled back into the soft, comfortable cushion. Maybe, for just an hour or so, life could be normal again.


End file.
